Moon-Shadow Sword Emperor

Episode 62

Damun picked up a tree branch and drew a large circle on the floor.

Then he started filling in the letters inside.

Gap (甲) Eul (乙) Byeong (丙) Jeong (丁) Mu (戊) Gi (己) Gyeong (庚) Shin (辛) Lim (壬) Gye (癸) Ja (子) Chuk (丑) In (寅) Myo (卯) Jin (辰) Sa (巳) Oh (午) Mi (未) Shin (申) Yu (酉) Sul (戌) Hae (亥).

“What is that?”

“A diagram of the battle we just escaped from.”

“Could it be that those letters are marks carved into the rock on the way here?”

“exactly.”

I was immediately amazed.

I thought I had just engraved a marker to show the path I had taken, but it turns out that I was drawing a map in my head based on it.

‘Is that possible?’

There are various geniuses in the world.

Right now, I was labeled a genius in my past life.

However, even I could not boast such a unique presence in my own chess field.

I felt confident.

I am confident that at least in the field of strategy, a talent that surpasses Qi Woon-ryong will not be found anywhere in the central region.

“I felt uncomfortable from the middle. “Because this diagram is familiar to me.”

“……?”

“A vision passed down through the Sima family. “It has been slightly modified, but the basic framework itself is the same as I remember.”

“So you thought Reporter Chen was from the Sima family?”

“As I said just now, it was purely by chance that Reporter Cheon found out where the switchgear was hidden. “If he was really from the Sima family, I thought he would have hidden the device around this time, and that turned out to be exactly right.”

“her… … .”

“The martial arts characteristics that appear on the outside change depending on which faction a martial artist comes from. The same goes for Jinbeopga. Depending on where your roots are, your habits, tendencies, and the way you form your Jin (陳) will vary.”

Damun got up from his seat, took the torch from Cheon Ga-ryeong, and held it in his hand.

He said, walking ahead.

“If Cheon Gi-ja is from Sima Se, it will not be that difficult to destroy the formation he created. “Because I have the same roots as him.”

I walked after Damun and drew a smile on my face.

I decided that I had to make the man in front of me mine.

‘After we finish conquering Bi-dong, there will be a need to think about him again.’

He has not yet given any response to my suggestion to become his subordinate.

He must have been contemplating whether it would actually be okay for him to follow me.

‘What he needs now is confidence, not material compensation.’

Damun is afraid of Simasege’s shadow that is shackling him.

My guess is that the reason he couldn’t make a decision was also related to that.

So I had to show him.

What kind of person will be your boss in the future?

‘Should we invade the Sima family soon and cause trouble?’

* * *

The narrow, dark passage continued for a long time.

There were all kinds of shapes carved on the walls and floor of the passage, and Damun said that each one of them was an element that made up the Jinbeop.

“It’s a fantasy camp. Follow me. “I will leave footprints, so you just have to step on them.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“I don’t even know about that. You could be engulfed in hell fire or fall a thousand miles off a cliff. It would be better not to look down on it as an illusion. The human brain will not recognize it as an illusion. In the worst case scenario, you could die.”

“All right.”

Damwoon carefully examined the wall and floor and took careful steps.

It was frustratingly slow, but no one in the group complained.

“…….”

Time passed in vain.

One person, two people, and a half, one person…

It seems that Cheon Ga-ryeong and Tang Seo-yeon were also bored, and their fatigue was clearly visible on their faces.

When I passed through the passage and stepped into the outside world, the world was already immersed in twilight.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Dam Sohyeop did all the hard work.”

Night comes quickly in the mountains.

My group and I decided to stop hiking and stay overnight.

“Don’t wander too far. “You never know where and what traps might be set up.”

The meal was moderately filled with dry food prepared in advance.

We made a fire to keep warm and made a bed.

I decided to be on watch.

“Are you sure you can’t sleep? It’s nice and comfortable for me, but…”

“It’s no problem for one night. “If you practice fortune-telling for about half an hour in the morning, you will be able to get your body back in perfect condition.”

After everyone in the group fell asleep, I threw dry twigs into the bonfire and looked up at the sky blankly.

The attack on Bidong was going easier than expected.

Recruiting Chiunryong as a colleague was a big deal.

Don’t you think it took too long to get through just one passage?

It wasn’t like that at all.

‘I broke through it in one go without much trial and error. This is important.’

I heard that in my past life, when scholars dispatched from the imperial palace attacked Cheon Gi-ja’s secret compound, various incidents and accidents occurred.

Although it was a small number, I knew there were deaths.

‘It won’t be difficult to reach the destination itself.’

Once I reached the final gate, the rest was up to me.

The illusion spread at the entrance of Bidong cannot be destroyed by external interference.

I had to step into the camp myself and destroy the core from within.

I don’t know exactly what kind of illusion appears.

However, I had heard a rumor that Jinmusa (鎮撫使) of the Geumuiwi (錦衣衛), who had challenged the Hwangjinjin, had barely escaped from the camp after being found dead.

It was said that, as a high-ranking official of the Jeongsapum position, the military service of the Geumuiwiwi was at a considerable level.

The state of fully ripened transcendence.

The reason I set the standard for conquering Bidong at the highest level was because I remembered that.

It did not occur to me that a strategy that would threaten the life of an expert of that level would be so ordinary.

Maybe even at my current level, it might be overwhelming.

‘You’ll only find out once you hit it in person.’

* * *

The group resumed hiking early the next morning, breaking through the camps spread out in various places and heading to Cheongija Bi-dong.

There were many twists and turns.

After passing one gateway, another gateway appeared before my eyes.

The shape of the gateway was both a sloping mountain path and a cool cave.

‘Is there a need to lay so many traps? ‘Why were you so wary of intruders?’

Short break time.

I chewed the dry food and grumbled in my mind.

I don’t know what reporter Cheon was thinking in his later years when he set up so many traps.

I could only guess that it might be because of his difficult relationship with the Sima family.

‘Anyway, the mechanical devices are slowly starting to appear one by one.’

Before I got here, I encountered two organ systems.

Fortunately, thanks to Seo-yeon Dang noticing and warning us in advance, we were able to pass by without any problems.

Later, I checked by throwing rocks and found that each was a device that broke the ground and made a rusty spear rise up.

In the case of the engine device, it was not as threatening as the Jinbeop.

This was because the core elements that made up the institution had weathered over time.

Of course, if it is not managed continuously, it will weather out as well, but in terms of longevity, it is true that the Jinbeop is superior to the institution.

In the first place, Reporter Cheon was more knowledgeable in the field of battle than in the organization.

However, that did not mean that Tang Seoyeon’s role was not important.

Just because the threat was relatively low did not mean that there was no need to be wary of the machinery.

“Let’s leave right away. “If possible, I would like to finish the strategy within today.”

After a quick meal, we resumed hiking.

After passing through four additional gates, three hours passed by.

Fortunately, thanks to Damwoon leading the way, no major problems arose.

My group and I finally reached the final gate.

“Hmm… … .”

In front of the large stone door that appeared to be the entrance to Bi-dong, a cloud of pale smoke was visible.

No matter where I looked, it didn’t look like naturally occurring smoke.

Damun stopped in place and said, rubbing his chin.

“It looks like it’s some kind of welcome formation… Please rest and wait for a while. “First of all, I will look around to see if there is anything that could be a clue to Hae-jin.”

I nodded and sat down with my butt on the ground.

For now, I planned to observe the situation as he said.

I think it’s unlikely, but if he finds a way to break Jin from the outside, there’s no better outcome than that.

However, reality always betrays expectations.

After about two days, Damun came back and said with a sigh.

“I don’t think I can disarm that formation unless I go inside and destroy the central axis.”

“Then I’ll go in.”

I got up from my seat as if I had been waiting.

“It’s not a decision so simple. I couldn’t even figure out what kind of Jin it was. “If you do something wrong, you could lose your life.”

“I have the ability to protect myself, so you don’t have to worry.”

“This is a strategy developed by none other than reporter Cheon. “I know the executioner’s skills are great, but…”

“There is no other way, is there? Are you going to give up after coming this far?”

Damun closed his mouth at my question.

After working so hard to get here, I couldn’t go back empty-handed and without any results.

“……”

Damun frowned as if in conflict.

He must have known.

If I’m going to challenge the welcome group, I have to step up as the strongest member of the group.

“I will go in with you.”

“I am not very knowledgeable about the battle method, but I do know that in a battle that is spread out in such a narrow area, you have to challenge it with as few people as possible.”

“If you want to quickly find out how to break the law, it would be better to accompany an expert.”

“If that is what the small cooperative thinks, I understand. “Let’s go in together.”

Damun and I stood side by side in front of the welcome hall.

After taking a breath, we simultaneously stepped into the welcome circle.

‘No way, I have to die.’

The next moment, something amazing happened.

The body stopped in place against its will.

The consciousness that escaped from the body floated freely in the air.

Is this what it feels like to be a ghost?

I was able to observe my body from the outside as if I were a third party.

‘What kind of harmony is this?’

When I looked to the side, I saw Damun, just like me, standing in place and looking blankly into space.

‘Are you in a state of unconsciousness just like me?’

I felt puzzled for a moment.

I narrowed my eyes at the presence I felt from beyond the smoke-filled space.

Someone was approaching this direction with slow steps.

‘Who is it?’

The consciousness that was floating in the air fell to the ground.

I reflexively put my hand on my waist.

Surprisingly, a familiar feeling came through my fingertips.

‘Damro (湛盧)?’

Wasn’t I now in a state where only my mind had escaped from my body?

What on earth is this vivid sensation?

“I never thought I would see you again like this.”

Soon the opponent appeared in front.

I opened my eyes wide.

He was a person I knew well, but never thought I would meet in this way.

A middle-aged man stopped about three feet away and smiled, showing his teeth.

“Priest.”

The second executioner who killed me in my past life was standing in front of me.